President Biden has nominated U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse to lead the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).
DIA is a Department of Defense (DoD) combat support agency that produces intelligence for combat and non-combat military missions, manages foreign military intelligence, and produces and manages intelligence for combatant commands, the secretary of Defense, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Kruse currently serves as the adviser for military affairs to the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). In this role, he advises the DNI on DoD activities and issues to synchronize DNI efforts to support the Pentagon, and to drive intelligence community (IC) and DoD enterprise integration in partnership with executive leaders across the IC and the military.
“President Biden nominated [Kruse] because of his sterling reputation and deep expertise as a proven leader across the Defense Intelligence enterprise,” DNI Avril D. Haines said in a statement on June 1.
“His deep experience across the intelligence community, his integrity, his kindness, his ability to listen, his deep commitment in doing right by the workforce, and his capacity to work with diverse perspectives to find solutions that are in the best interest of the country are all qualities … that will be vital to his success as DIA’s newest director, pending confirmation,” she added.
Kruse previously served as the director for defense intelligence and warfighter support in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence & Security. Before that, from 2016 to 2019, he served as the director of intelligence of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
He has also served and deployed as the director of intelligence for the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, and served as the Senior Special Advisor for the Commander of U.S. European Command and Supreme Allied Commander, Europe.
Kruse has been in military service since 1991 and has been deployed to Osan Air Base in South Korea and during Operation Inherent Resolve in Southwest Asia.
